OKEECHOBEE -- A pair of thefts were apparently cleared up with the Sunday arrest of a 47-year-old Okeechobee man.

Arrest affidavits indicate Michael Howard Ramsburg, S.E. 37th Way, was arrested March 12 on a felony charge of burglary in one case and grand theft in the second case.



He was booked into the Okeechobee County Jail on a bond of $10,000. Jail records indicate he has been released on bond.

According to an arrest report by Deputy Jonathon Gove, of the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO), he was sent to a burglary complaint at Island Cruize Golf Carts, 4190 U.S. 441 S.E.

Surveillance video at the business showed a white male with blond hair and a black spider tattoo on his back crawling through a window. The man apparently went to an office desk and removed a small amount of cash, stated the report.

For unstated reasons, deputies Ryane Ammons and Gove then went to Ramsburg’s home to speak with him. During that conversation Deputy Ammons asked the man to remove his shirt. When Ramsburg took off his shirt the deputies apparently saw a black spider tattoo on his upper back.

He was then placed under arrest for his alleged connection in the burglary.

As Deputy Ammons was leaving the home he reportedly noticed two Echo straight-shaft weed eaters lying in a vehicle. Both weed eaters still had anti-theft devices attached to them.

The deputy later went to The Home Depot, from where the weed eaters had reportedly been stolen, and spoke with an employee who supposedly saw a man leaving the store with the two items. Deputy Ammons showed a photo of Ramsburg to the employee who allegedly identified the man as the person they saw with the two weed eaters.

The weed eaters had a total value of $398.

Neither report indicates if the cash was recovered and returned to the golf cart business.